Canada Capacity Utilization Rate Eases Slightly in 1Q to 78.5%

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's industrial capacity utilization rate edged lower during the first quarter of the year with slowdowns in manufacturing and natural resources extraction.

Overall, industries in the country operated at 78.5% of their production capacity in the January-to-March period, a 0.1 percentage point decline from the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said Friday. The result was slightly softer than the 78.8% expected, according to economists at TD Securities.

Data for the final quarter of 2023 was revised downward to 78.6% from 78.7%.

The industrial capacity utilization rate is the ratio of an industry's actual output to its estimated potential output and measures the intensity at which industries use their production capacity.

Statistics Canada said the slight pullback in capacity utilization during the latest quarter included capacity utilization easing 0.1 percentage point for the manufacturing sector, driven by weakness in wood-product manufacturing and non-metallic mineral output.

Capacity utilization in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction fell 0.7 point following increases the two prior quarters, which the data agency said coincided with a drop in gas extraction.

Capacity utilization in construction inched up 0.1 point from the quarter before, as higher activity in engineering countered a decline in residential building construction.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 07, 2024 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)

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